Tokyo Olympics: How shooters qualify for rifle, pistol, and trap events

Shooting sport has 15 events at the Tokyo Olympics this year. Before every Olympic cycle, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) hands out a certain number of quota places for shooting events to the International Sport Shooting Federation (ISSF).

An athlete can win an Olympic berth for their respective country, and then the national federations decide upon which athlete they want to send for the event. So, if an athlete wins the berth, the nation might not necessarily send the same athlete who earned the place.

Let's have a look at all the qualification rules for shooting at the Tokyo Olympics.

The International Sport Shooting Federation sets up the rules of qualification for shooters around the world. Athletes can earn these Olympic quotas at different events recognized by the ISSF. It can be World Championships, Continental Games, Continental Championships, World Cups, World Cup Finals, or specially designated qualifying competitions.

The two basic requirements for winning an Olympic berth in shooting sport are -

MQS- Minimum Qualifying score
Olympic quota place

The first eligibility criteria is to attain the MQS. That's the minimum qualifying score the shooter has to reach for qualifying. The score is decided by the ISSF before every Olympic cycle.

MQS differs for all the 15 shooting events at Tokyo Olympics. Here is the list of all the MQS required in different events of shooting sport.

Pistol events at Tokyo Olympics -

10m Air Pistol Men - 563
25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men - 560
10m Air Pistol Women - 550
25m Pistol Women - 555

Rifle events at Tokyo Olympics -

10m Air Rifle Men - 595.0
50m Rifle 3 Positions Men - 1135
10m Air Rifle Women - 590.0
50m Rifle 3 Positions Women - 1115

Shotgun events at Tokyo Olympics -

Trap Men - 112
Skeet Men - 114
Trap Women - 92
Skeet Women - 92

Once the shooter has attained the MQS, they are eligible to stand a chance to win an Olympic berth. Their performance and ranks in the final games at the ISSF World Cups or any other recognized games then play an important role in achieving the Olympic quota.

Now, when shooters cross all the hurdles, then comes the count of how many Olympic quotas are left. Every country gets 2 Olympic quotas in each shooting event. So, the total count comes to a maximum of 30 Olympic berths for all the countries in shooting sport.

30 Olympic berths are divided into-

Men (individual events) - 12

Women (individual events) - 12

Mixed events- 6

The total Olympic quota in Tokyo Olympics for shooting sports is 360.

300 berths are for individual players (150-men and 150-women). The other 60 seats are divided for mixed teams, host country places, Tripartite commission individual invitations and based on the world ranking of individual shooters.